Geno story time? Geno story time. Alright, here comes Grandpa Fatman with Tales of Yore. This one is from the SSB4 days. I've shared this elsewhere on this site but I don't think I've ever detailed it in any of the Geno threads before.
It was November 21st, 2014. The big day had arrived. Smash Wii U was coming out. Things lined up perfectly. It was pay day and I had plans to pick up the game as soon as I got off work. Despite regularly being financially wrecked because of grad school, I had managed to set aside enough money for not only the game but limited edition Gamecube controller and adapter. All I had to do was survive my shift and the game was mine.
At the time, I was a student supervisor for the parking division of the campus police. This meant that I had to walk around campus and make sure people were doing their job (writing parking tickets but, hey, it got me out of school without debt). So, I was doing this and I was enjoying the walk because the weather was nice. I had gotten to one of the farthest parking lots on campus when I was approached by two international students. They asked me for help and then they showed me what I presumed was a dead tuxedo kitten. I was taken back a bit, as anyone would be. "We found it in the bushes and... we don't know what to do." I then told them that I would take it because I was friends with the owner of a local pet supply store literally in walking distance of where we were. They handed it to me and then quietly left.
For a few minutes, I was holding a kitten that had its eyes closed and barely any heat to it. I assumed that it had recently died and that the least I could do was take it somewhere it would be properly disposed of instead of being food for some random raccoon. So, I began my walk, trying to not bring too much attention to the fact that I was basically carrying a dead baby animal. I got to the side walk leading to the store when suddenly, if almost by magic, the kitten sprung to life. It looked at me, I looked at it. It was apparent that we were both a bit freaked out. "Uh..." I didn't have much time to really process what had happened because then the kitten tried to get away and was hardcore biting my hands. It was weak though and quickly tired itself out. The roof of its mouth was chalk white which meant that it was anemic and super close to starving to death. Soon the punk passed out and he closed his eyes and went dormant again. It was in that moment... that I fell in love with the little guy.
There was a change of plans but I couldn't decide what they were going to be. My landlord was incredibly strict at the time and me and my soon to be wife would have probably faced eviction if we were caught with a third cat. "Okay, right, I can't keep him..." I then walked over to the student center on campus. About every 5 minutes, the kitten would wake up, freak out, try to murder my hand, and then pass out from exhaustion. I sat in the student lounge and phoned up animal control. They said they'd send someone so I sat, waiting anxiously. Thirty minutes passed and the kitten went through its cycles: wake, bite, pass out, repeat. My hand hurt like a MF but I wanted to see this through. As time passed, I began to realize the mistake I had made. This was a stray kitten that would probably die by the end of the day if it didn't get help. It became grossly apparent that animal control would probably euthanize it without a second thought so I got up and left. "Damnit, this is happening all too fast..."
I walked outside and almost got hit by a car. The driver was mad until I showed them the kitten and told them the story. She looked at it and then me with quiet concern and then said "I can take him to the vet if you want." Do you ever have those moments in your life when you know that a decision made right then and there would affect thousands down the road? There I was, at a literal and metaphorical crosswalk when I look at the passed out kitten again. You become quickly attached to something as its literally dying in your hands so I told her that I would do it. She understood and left. Sometimes I think back on how things could have been if I had handed it over to her.
I then flagged down one of the campus shuttles and sat near the front. The kitten was in my lap now and just about everyone who got on and off asked me about it. It was like he was taking a nap and the thought would have been a lot more endearing if I didn't understand the grave reality of the situation. I eventually got back to the station, got my boss to agree to let me off early, and had one of my coworkers drive me to the vet my fiancee and I still go to. I got it checked in and the vet gave it various injections and formula though a syringe. After it was put back away in a carrier, the vet pulled me aside. "I'm going to level with you... there's a pretty good chance he's not going to make it. He's very malnourished and the waking and sleeping cycles might indicate brain damage. Do you understand?" I did and I left him in their care for the night. As you might have guessed, Smash Bros was the last thing on my mind at the time.
The next day came and I was told to come back to the vet office. He had survived the night but still wasn't doing super great. He was still anemic and choke full of parasites but both could be managed with medication, basically meaning I had no choice but to at least foster him. It was then time to pay the vet bill. The total came out within a few dollars of what I had saved up for the SSB4 bundle. It was funny in a Gift of the Magi sort of way so I couldn't even bring myself to be mad. I had wanted Smash 4 since 2012 but I had to recognize that this kitten was more important. It made me think of the probably thousands of hours I had spent on this boards on a near daily basis. Grad school was pissing on me and trying to convince me that it was rain so it and my then girlfriend were kind of the only breaks that I had in my life that was 60+ hour work weeks across multiple jobs on top of my studies. Still, this mattered more... a lot more.
I wound up taking him home, sneaking him past our landlord's son, and putting him in my girlfriend and I's personal bathroom. In the time before my girlfriend came home from work, I started thinking of names. I kept thinking about how he was practically lifeless and how he seemingly by some miracle came back to life in my hands. The similarities played out too perfectly... I had a name I had been saving for a pet since I was 8 years old... In those days, waiting for Smash 4, I regularly typed Geno 4 SSB4 but now it had more meaning to it. I gave up the game I had waited years for on that day for that kitten. So that was it... Geno for SSB4.
Geno's still with me to this day. Because of the experience, he has a voracious appetite and an undying sense of loyalty. His celebrated birthday is November 21st even though he was likely actually born in October. Because of the sacrifice I made that day, I didn't buy the Wii U version of Smash 4 until early 2017. I reasoned I was too busy anyways, which was true because, although no longer working the crazy hours that I did, I was still working full time and you just kind of have to pump the brakes on that sort of thing as you get older and have more responsibilities anyways. Geno turns four this year and it makes me happy that, whenever I watch Nintendo Directs on my bed, he'll lay at my feet. This means that, if and when the day comes, Geno will be there when his namesake is confirmed. Call it sappy, sentimental, what have you, but this just adds another layer to why I've been wanting Geno in Smash Bros for so long. I finally got to use a name I had been saving since childhood and it played out wonderfully for a cat that adores me. In the end, I hope it all works out. I hope I can be there with Geno and hopefully my wife to have something I've been waiting 22 years to have: for my favorite childhood character to come back in what's ultimately (pun intended) become the video game character Hall of Fame. Hopefully, that day comes soon.
I'm glad you were there to save lil' Geno. ^^
